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Built on a compelling narration that features epic moments, amazing fights, and addictive lore, One Piece is universally praised as a grand tale of adventure. The story's main protagonists, the Straw Hat Pirates, explore the world with humor and joyful laughter. Still, concurrently with their carefree spirit, One Piece also depicts events with a much darker tone.
Beyond the mere representation of violence for its own sake, One Piece portrays a realistic depiction of human cruelty. In the series, Eiichiro Oda touches on several real-life issues, such as slavery, racism, meaningless hatred, sadistic oppression, and more.
With the stark contrast between how low some people can sink and the heroism and kindness others are capable of, Oda reveals the complexity of human nature. While functional to the franchise's intricate worldbuilding and lore, the brutality of certain moments leaves fans horrified by recalling similar real-life tragedies.
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Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1098.
The most disturbing moments in One Piece explored in detail
10) The heinous end of Donquixote Homing
Unlike the other Celestial Dragons, Homing was kind and sincerely loved his wife and son. Aiming to live an ordinary life, away from the privileges and abuses of his fellow nobles, he left Mary Geoise with his family. Sadly, this choice ended up bringing disaster to him.
Despite being innocent, Homing paid for the sins of his former fellow Celestial Dragons. Recognizing he and his relatives as nobles, like the ones they hated for their vicious deeds, the commoners started persecuting them.
Forced into a life of poverty, Homing's wife fell ill, and he could only watch as she died. Shortly after, the commoners found him and his sons and tortured them. Blaming Homing for all that happened to them, one of his sons, Doflamingo, decided to kill him.
Aiming to regain the status of noble by bringing Homing's head to Mary Geoise, Doflamingo ruthlessly shot his father in the back of his head. Before being tragically murdered, Homing smiled, apologizing to his two sons for failing them as a father.
9) The burning of the Gray Terminal
Dawn Island, the homeland of Monkey D. Luffy, is the location of the Goa Kingdom. Within the country, the inhabitants of the High Town, the wealthiest part of Goa's capital city, isolated all people of the lower social classes, segregating them in a junkyard.
This place became known as the Gray Terminal, the residence of a lawless community whose members had no proper medical care and were forced to live by selling wares found in the slum. Luffy, Ace, and Sabo used to hang around in this dangerous environment when they were kids.
As a Celestial Dragon would visit the Goa Kingdom, the local royal family decided to destroy the Gray Terminal, fearing that its sight could ruin the country's reputation. With all higher-class citizens praising the idea, the cruel aristocracy hired the Bluejam Pirates to burn the Gray Terminal and its residents.
The pirates set the entire area on fire and started murdering anyone who tried to escape. However, they also died in the incident, as the monarch of Goa locked the gates of the city, leaving them outside, trapped in the fire. The arson ended up killing many people, as only a few survived with the Revolutionary Army's help.
8) Children used as guinea pigs
In the past, the Punk Hazard laboratory was run by Vegapunk, who used it to perform experiments for the World Government. Among his test subjects were the Kaido and the Lunarian survivor Alber. Eventually, the World Government abandoned the island, and Caesar Clown made it his base.
A scientist specializing in chemical weapons of mass destruction, Caesar started researching gigantification. He noted that he could create giants by forcing large quantities of certain substances into the bodies of kids, but only at the cost of reducing the children's lifespan.
Although fully aware of the terrible aftereffects of his experiments, Caesar continued performing them. In search of additional guinea pigs, he even started kidnapping kids from their families. Once the children arrived at Punk Hazard, Caesar would trick them into taking NHC10 regularly.
If the kids stopped taking NHC10, they would have terrible withdrawal symptoms, including pain and hallucinations. Likewise, large dosages of the drug would cause them internal damage. Despite his comical appearance, Caesar's egoistic cruelty was disturbing.
7) Brook spent decades alone with the corpses of his comrades
Several decades ago, Brook was a member of the Rumbar Pirates. During a battle, Brook and his comrades were wounded with tainted weapons. Realizing that all of them would succumb to the poison, Brook asked his companions to play one last song together, which they would record on a Tone Dial.
Owing to his Revive-Revive Fruit, which would bring him back to life after dying, Brook would resurrect and bring the Tone Dial to their friend, the whale Laboon. As such, the Rumbar Pirates played "Binks's Sake" one last time, slowly dying one after another.
Thanks to his Devil Fruit ability, Brook returned to life. However, he was resurrected as a skeleton, as his soul only managed to find his body when it was reduced to a pile of bones. Trapped in the Florian Triangle, Brook spent the following decades suffering for the sad fate of his crewmates.
Until the arrival of the Straw Hat Pirates, Brook lived several years in a situation that was defined as borderline insane, which would be an understatement. Isolated on the ship, at that point, left to the whims of the sea currents, the corpses of his dead companions surrounded him.
6) Big Mom's cannibalism
Before becoming famous as "Big Mom," Charlotte Linlin was one of the children raised by Mother Carmel. Upon discovering Linlin's natural-born freakish strength, Carmel planned to sell her to the World Government. With no one teaching her any morals, Linlin grew up with several personality disorders.
Most notably, she tended to perform acts of childish and yet brutal cruelty. One day, Linlin's inability to control herself provoked an absurdly eerie development, as, in the grip of uncontrollable gluttony, she ate Carmel and the other orphans alive.
She was not openly shown doing that, but the truth about the gruesome event seems clear. As Linlin started eating voraciously, Carmel and the orphans were next to her, and when she finished, they had disappeared. Simultaneously, Linlin obtained the powers of Carmel's Soul-Soul Fruit.
As Devil Fruits respawn near where their previous users died, this is another clue to what happened. Eating disorders can be unhealthy, but in Big Mom's case, her morbid obsession for food led to a genuinely horrifying moment, whose sheer insanity still leaves One Piece fans incredulous.
5) The slave trade
Slavery is the condition in which one person is owned by another as a property, just like an object. It's considered one of the most heinous atrocities humans can ever put in place. Even in the fictional world of One Piece, slavery is prohibited.
However, the Celestial Dragons routinely practice slavery, giving bribes to the Navy and the World Government in exchange for their surrender. Whether civilians, jailed pirates, and other outlaws, as well as members of uncommon races, the nobles can take anyone they want as an enslaved person.
All people subject to their servitude are marked with a symbol whose appalling intention is to emphasize the enslaved people as beings lesser than normal humans. As if that wasn't already disturbing, what's even more shocking is that Marines would hunt down any enslaved person who tried to escape.
Enslaved people are forced to wear a collar with a chain that, if broken, will cause the collar to explode. Celestial Dragons regularly trade, torture, and kill the defenseless enslaved people as they please. During their time in Sabaody, the Straw Hats witnessed a slave auction, which left them, understandably, disgusted and bewildered.
4) The massacre of Flevance
The economy of Flevance, a North Blue country, was based on the extraction of the Amber Lead. The World Government and Flevance's royal family knew that the mineral was poisonous but chose not to inform the country's inhabitants to continue gaining profit from it. This caused plenty of residents to fall ill and die.
Unable to cover the disaster anymore, the royal family left the kingdom. Believing that the disease was contagious, the neighboring countries quarantined Flevance. Then, aiming to nullify any risk of contamination, they decided to kill all of its inhabitants indiscriminately.
The Amber Lead Syndrome is a hereditary, non-contagious disease caused by prolonged mineral exposure. The World Government was aware of the truth but never revealed it, not even to stop the mass murder of Flevance's residents.
Out of an unsubstantiated prejudice, countless people were slain, including Trafalgar Law's parents and little sister. Law, at the time just a child, eluded the massacre by hiding under a pile of corpses. Justifiably shocked, he developed a nihilistic behavior, which he only lost after meeting Donquixote Rosinante.
3) The Native Hunting Tournament
The Celestial Dragons's disrespect for human life is such that they perpetuated genocides for sheer fun. After choosing a nation not affiliated with the World Government, they used it to perform a human hunting tournament, whose subjects were their slaves, as well as the host land's inhabitants.
Celestial Dragons partaking in the search were granted different points for every "rabbit" they killed: the game's human targets. This absurd contest has been conducted every three years for who knows how long, and each edition has ended with zero survivors.
Permeated with malicious, disturbing classism, the Celestial Dragons slaughtered the populations of entire victims while feeling legitimate to do that. With zero consideration for human life, they compete among themselves to whom kills more "rabbits."
To motivate the "rabbits" to give their best effort so that the game becomes more interesting, the Celestial Dragon deceives them with the lie that they will be freed if they survive for three weeks.
Thirty-eight years ago, the location picked for the Native Hunting Tournament was God Valley. The Celestial Dragons planned to kill around 100,000 "rabbits" on that island. The country's rightful king tried to dissuade the nobles from their intent but was immediately killed by Saint Figarland Garling.
2) The death of Kuma's parents
With Bartholomew Kuma's flashback, One Piece reached a seinen-like peak of darkness rarely touched before. As Kuma was born, his parents tenderly hugged him, but little did they know a rotten system would sweep away their heartwarming love.
After exposing Kuma's father, a man named Clapp, as a member of the Buccaneer race, the World Government sent agents to capture him, his wife, and his son. Following their seizure, all three members of the family had their lives destroyed in a succession of horrible events.
Kuma's mother died of hardships, and his father, Clapp, couldn't help but admit that at least she stopped suffering. Trying to give his son something to believe in, Clapp told him the story of Nika, the "Sun God" who would free all the oppressed.
Just as Clapp mimicked the rhythm of Nika's "Drums of Liberation" moves, a Celestial Dragon shot him dead. The scene was jarring, as Kuma, upon hearing about Nika's legend, was smiling, but a moment later, he found himself covered in his father's blood.
The issue was even more harrowing as the Celestial Dragon killed Clapp simply because the man, trying to cheer up his son, made too much noise. Annoyed by that, the noble murdered Clapp without a second thought. Too cruel to be true. The chapter itself is titled "Better off dead in this world."
1) Ginny's horrific fate brings One Piece close to a seinen
Ginny was introduced as an outspoken, intelligent girl who, alongside Ivankov and Kuma, was involved in God Valley's Human Hunting Tournament. With a mixture of craftiness and resolve, the three kids survived the dramatic event. After settling in Sorbet, Ginny and Kuma eventually joined the Revolutionary Army.
Unluckily, Ginny was abducted by a Celestial Dragon, who forced her to become his wife. After two years, the noble released her, as she had contracted a deadly disease he didn't want to get infected with.
Right before succumbing to her illness, Ginny managed to contact Kuma, but when he arrived, she was already dead. Directly next to Ginny was a one-year-old Bonney, highly implied to be the byproduct of her coerced wedlock.
Similar situations were already featured in One Piece, but never in such an evident way. Even in Ginny's case, nothing was directly shown or stated, but the implication was unmistakable. Given the well-known evilness of nobles, it wasn't surprising but surely heart-wrenching.
Ginny's life in Sorbet with Kuma was just a short spell of happiness, crushed by barbaric brutality. When revealing her abuse and subsequent death, Oda never showed Ginny's face, as if to emphasize her total depersonalization into an expendable object, used and then thrown away. For One Piece's standards, this moment was uncomfortably dark.
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